


This Time I'm Never Letting You Go

by LuckyPossums



Category: Apex Legends (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Other, Pining, Possession, Shadowfall (Apex Legends), Takes place during the quests
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:27:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24489715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuckyPossums/pseuds/LuckyPossums
Summary: Bloodhound may have normally enjoyed an opportunity to take a moonlit stroll down a river with the legend known as Mirage. But right now there was little romance to be found in a shadow dimension filled with prowlers and certain simulacrum with a god complex.And then the two began to feel as if they were being watched.
Relationships: Bloodhound/Mirage | Elliott Witt
Comments: 9
Kudos: 64





	This Time I'm Never Letting You Go

**Author's Note:**

  * For [EnEss_Caity](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EnEss_Caity/gifts).



> I couldn't help but write something after this beautiful art of Mirage was made: https://twitter.com/CaitySecret/status/1265127036030509056?s=20 <3

At one point during Elliott's eight round of I-spy, Bloodhound started to consider why they had decided to join these quests.

Elliott was putting on a show of scanning the dark landscape while he hummed, "I spy with my little eye…Something starting with w-"

"It's water," Bloodhound answered flatly.

"Hey, you're good at this!" Elliott whistled and flashed them a smile, bright enough that his features were still noticeable in the night.

They fought not to roll their eyes and instead said, "only because you've chosen water twice."

The two had been following the length of the river in King's Canyon for the past few hours and the trip had been primarily uneventful. They were almost itching for some kind of action, even those shadow-infested prowlers would provide for a lapse in the slowly growing boredom that they were feeling.

Although Bloodhound felt cruel when they wished for that. Especially considering who they were travelling with.

For Bloodhound this shadow version of King's Canyon was merely another hunting ground. One with higher stakes perhaps, but not unlike other hunting grounds they had traversed. But for Elliott on the other hand.

They knew that he found no comfort in this King's Canyon that was trapped in permanent night. He stumbled over his words more often and filled the unnatural quiet of the night with his ramblings and games.

Whenever Bloodhound would glance over to him, there was a growing anxiousness crowding his features that they were unused to seeing. There were no cameras here, nothing that would capture the fear he would feel during the games that he was used to hiding behind a smile.

They would normally say that they weren't so distracted by him but even they could admit that anyone would have a hard time looking away.

"You are aware that this is meant to be a stealth mission?" They asked him.

When Elliott turned to face them all the jewellery on his body made an audible clatter. Those golden medallions linked around his neck always managed to draw their eyes first before they looked upwards. Then it was his hair that they saw next.

He'd grown it out in the off-season, almost to an extent that seemed unnaturally quick but they had learned not to underestimate anything about Elliott. He looked more rugged with his longer hair and bread and it was the same eccentricity that always bought their eyes on him. More than once they had wondered how it might feel if they ran their hands through it, even that ridiculous feather was oh so endearing.

He lifted one of his eyes to adjust that feather before he answered, "I know, I know. I just thought that we could use some bar-brit-uh-brightening up after…"

Bloodhound let out a low exhale, "of course."

Their thoughts had seemed to always come back to Wattson whenever they saw one of those prowlers along the cliff's edge. It had set an example that this place was not to be underestimated, one that no one would soon forget.

"There is not much further to go," they observed, if only to help Elliott feel more comfortable. "We only need to reach the cage from here."

"And then we'll be back down here next week," he sighed.

They looked away to scan the cliffside again, they had seen no sign of prowlers yet and the canyon seemed far quieter than they were used to for them to feel comfortable. Still, combat was not the purpose of this mission, they were merely mean to scout and mark the bunker hatches that were littered around the canyon.

They took another slow inhale of the cold before they said, "you do not have to continue on these quests, there is no shame in fear."

"Fear? No way," he laughed, "c'mon, I'm plenty fearless. I'm just jealous that Wraith gets to stay back and watch people go on dates. That's way better than hanging around here. And you know, there's stuff going on back there too…"

"Wattson will recover soon," they assured him. "With Lifeline watching her, there is little harm that will come to her."

Elliott laughed, albeit nervously, "yeah she already shooed me out of the room twice for checking up on her. I mean she even managed to kick Caustic out which I didn't think was possible. Haven't seen him around since."

"You think he will not continue this hunt for the artefact?" They asked.

"At the least, I doubt he'll be buying any Loba merchandise soon," he said with a laugh and Bloodhound couldn't help but smile at the way his whole body moved every time he laughed. "She's uh…Definitely something. She's a bit more uh - cutthroat. But that shouldn't really be a surprise with her whole life and well…Okay, how about you say something now to stop me from talking, please?"

They smiled beneath their mask and said, "competence in one's skills at a young age will always come at a price. One day she will learn that strength cannot be our only solace."

"One day?" Mirage repeated. "That's pretty vague. Is that going to be like a week from now or…"

It was times like this that they were grateful for the mask. They could smile unabashedly at him without fear of his reaction. They never had to hide those quick grins at his ridiculous jokes or draw their eyes away from watching him when everything was hidden behind.

They fought back the instinct to reach out to adjust the feather in his hair. Instead, they murmured, "so long as her the killer of her family lives, she will always be afraid to begin again."

"Makes sense," he agreed easily enough. "You two are friendly right?"

"We have much common ground and it is rare to find a likewise hunter."

He nodded, "sure, sure. I didn't picture that at first but I think now I can kind of see it. You two would be pretty terrifying to go up against in one of the games."

"Thank you."

Elliott just snorted at that and began to fiddle with the chain of medallions around his neck. He looked calmer now and Bloodhound could be thankful for that. There was no much further to go now once they reached the last hatch and marked it on their map. Since Wattson's injury, Bangalore had argued for stricter reconnaissance in this world before they engaged in more missions.

"You're a hunter," Elliott interrupted the silence that was growing between them. "So tell me, is it a good or bad thing that we haven't seen any prowlers around yet?"

Their mouth hardened in a thin line. It was a question that they had hoped to avoid.

"It depends."

"On what?"

They had hoped to leave it at that, though clearly, that wouldn't be an option. "We have had several missions here now," they said slowly, "perhaps our disturbance here has diminished the population enough that it has corralled them in hiding and replenishing their numbers instead."

"You don't sound very convinced by that."

"There is another possibility," they considered, glancing towards the edge of the cliffs above. "In World's Edge, the prowler population increased rapidly because Hammond's interference drove away all the larger predators which would hunt the prowlers and if it is now decreasing..."

When they looked back to see Elliott they noticed him visibly swallow and run a hand through his hair. They scolded themselves for a moment, it would have been better if they had not said anything in the first place.

And then Elliott surprised them when he said, "I was actually hoping to hear something like that."

"You were?"

"Uh, Path gave me a rundown about what happened to him here," he told them. "He said that he saw people that looked like shadows? Sort of like what happens when you use that totem thing that Ren-Rav-Renen-Revenant has."

They tipped their head up towards the western cliff and scanned the area. They had been routinely scanning for possible prowlers or flyers, now they might have another concern.

He kept a hand combing through his hair while he continued, "but Path also has a weird sense of humour. I can't tell when he's joking or not so maybe Wraith set him up to try to prank me or something."

"Perhaps."

There was a sudden snapping sound in the river next to them and Bloodhound flashed their scanner in the direction at the same time that Elliott let out a yelping sound.

"What the fuck was that?" Elliott whispered to them.

Nothing on the scanner.

Bloodhound took a few steps forward and flashed the torch on their gun towards where they had heard the sound. "A larger branch got snapped between some of the rocks in the river," they told him, looking at the separated branches continuing further downstream. 

When they looked over to him, they saw that he remained staring at the spot in the river.

"Mirage?" They asked again.

He blinked as if snapping out of a daze and quickly laughed, "ha, thought it was a prowler. Those things are surprisingly good at sneaking up on you."

"Then we should not give them the chance," they reminded him and increased their pace towards the Cage.

Mirage didn't let them get too far ahead and for that they were thankful. When they had first met, they were surprised that someone could speak so much and yet were never caught during the games. They were used to a silent hunt, careful canvassing in which their only focus was the bounty ahead of them.

They had been surprised by how quickly they had gotten used to his aimless chatter. Even more than that, they were surprised that they _liked_ it. As much as they enjoyed the comforting silence of the hunt, they knew that they would miss his presence and tedious sight-seeing games if they did not have him there.

"How do you think the candles got here?" He asked them.

They blinked, "the what?"

"In the buildings there are candles," he added, "and I doubt that the prowlers put them there."

"You are still on this," they sighed.

He made a short noise of frustration, "I mean the added ambience is appreciated sure but how'd they get there? Do you think good ol' Revenant here spends his free time putting candles everywhere?"

"He does have a taste for the dramatic," Bloodhound added.

Elliott laughed although his tone was drenched in nervousness, "I mean some of the legends are saying that here he's worshipped like a god."

"He is hardly a god Mirage," they said flatly.

"I don't care about that part," he explained. "It's just…At one point you gotta wonder, where are the people that worship him?"

Bloodhound lifted the scope of their sentinel, there were no prowlers near the ziplines heading the Cage either. There was only the presence of the gentle leviathans, they too had been corrupted and perverted by this landscape. It seemed inevitable that everything that lived here would succumb to that same corruption.

They settled the sentinel onto their back again, "sometimes it is better not to dwell on the dead."

"I didn't say that I thought they were dead."

"Nothing here is alive," they told them. "The earth is cold, the world is shrouded in permanent night, even the leviathans cannot be rid of its corruption."

Elliott gave a small shrug, "can't be all bad. Look at us, long walk by a river under the moonlight, that's textbook romance right there."

Bloodhound almost stumbled then but managed to recover themselves to say, "I suppose."

"And there are these wax candles everywhere that really set the mood," he added with a whistle.

"Perhaps that scenery could salvage your dating profile."

He choked on his own words before he managed to ask, "wait you know about that?"

And once again they were glad that they could hide their smirk beneath their mask. Ahead of them, one of the leviathans lifted its head to watch the full moon.

They ignored Elliott's question and said, "I've always appreciated their presence in the canyon. If it were not for the circumstances I would have enjoyed the opportunity to get close to them again."

"Ever thought about climbing one?" He asked offhandedly.

They couldn't fathom a response to that and instead, they just stared at him. 

"You know," Elliott said as if it were everyone's first reasonable thought when seeing a leviathan, "it could work. Grab some rope and some climbing gear, try to get up a leg."

"No," they said.

"It could totally work," he said, nodding his head all the while. "I guess I'm a dog person and I always thought those big guys looked like oversized puppies. Maybe even sloths."

They smiled as they glanced back up at the large leviathan that let out a low call. "Hm," they considered, "I cannot admit that they are related to either…Although I must admit that I can see the comparison. They are quite majestic and more comfortable dwelling in the waters than these cramped canyons."

"Majestic huh?" Elliott snorted. "One of them sneezed on me once and I spent the rest of the game covered in snot."

They let out a laugh at the thought and lifted a hand over their mouthpiece to muffle the sound. A smile made its way onto Elliott's face as well and Bloodhound turned away for a moment.

It only took a single moment.

The moment they turned back to Elliott their eyes caught the moving shadow. Their eyes went wide and a hand shot out to him.

"Mirage!"

Too late. The shadow that clung to the cliff leapt with its hands outstretched onto Elliott's back. His body crumpled to the ground while Bloodhound was already lifting their weapon.

Between the moment that they glimpsed at their bullet finding its place in the barrel of the sentinel and looking at Elliott again, the shadow was gone.

And Elliott was motionless on the ground.

"Mirage?" They whispered. He didn't move. "Elliott!"

They didn't waste another moment staying still. They sprinted to him and let their knees take the brunt as they slid across the rocky ground. Their hands reached under him to haul him upwards from the ground.

"Elliott?" They asked again.

After a moment, he gave a sputtering cough and Bloodhound let out a sigh of relief. They knew that they should move away now but they felt stuck in place, a gloved hand resting between his shoulder blades and the other cupping his cheek.

His head rested on their chest until his breathing began to even out and he stopped shaking. Their eyes scoured the landscape around them, lifting the hand on his back to scan their surroundings. Nothing. Although they weren't sure they could trust that anymore.

They looked down at him once again, "are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm good, I'm good," he hummed and his hand patted at their shoulder lazily. "Thanks for your help you two.

When Elliott's eyes opened they were entirely black.

The hand on his cheek quickly snapped away from his black eyes. Their hand instinctively reached for their axe but two hands, stronger than Elliott's should have been, snapped onto their wrists. They felt their balance turn as his legs shifted onto either side of them and he kept them pinned to the ground.

Their mouth opened into a snarl but they felt a finger press against their mouthpiece followed by a shushing sound that overcame the silence.

"Shhh, you don't want to alert any prowlers and ruin our fun do you Bloodhound?" He scolded, the playfulness offset by the hiss in his voice.

"What are you?" They began to ask but the grip on their wrists only tightened, stronger than Elliott should have been.

The thing pinning them let out a low laugh, "almost thought I was crazy seeing you two around here. But I can't complain when I've been waiting to get you underneath me for a while now."

"What-"

But he only continued as if he hadn't heard them. "No, not just a while," he considered, "I've been waiting for this ever since you betrayed me."

"Get off me!" They demanded but he just shifted his weight above them, making sure that they wouldn't be able to move easily.

"Why?" He asked and they didn't miss the tight smile on his face. "So you can take the chance to run away again? You didn't even leave me a note last time Hound. I wasn't even worth a 'goodbye'?"

Bloodhound took a moment to breathe, staring up at the thing above them. It wasn't Elliott. It couldn't be.

They took another deep breath of that night air and asked again, "what are you?"

"Aw, are your goggles fogging up?" He teased. "I thought it was pretty obvious."

"You're something from this world," they decided, "a parasite."

That corralled smile on his face shifted in an instant, turning into a cold snarl. "A parasite huh?" He bit out. "Is that what you think of me?"

"What else would you be?"

"I shouldn't be _that_ hard to recognise, I'm in my own body after all," he told them, teeth grit. "I'm Elliott Witt - one of a kind, heroic legend, handsome devil and pretty fucking tired of being stuck in this hell hole."

"I won't ask again-"

He let out a frustrated groan and rolled those black eyes. "You're not much of a listener," he huffed, "I was pretty shocked to see you alive. And then I saw someone who looked and talked just like I used to, just wandering around the place."

Bloodhound didn't want to hear this. Louder than the thing above them was the reminder of what Elliott had said earlier.

_At one point you gotta wonder, where are the people that worship him?_

If a version of Revenant existed in this universe then-

"I have to admit," he continued, "it feels really nice to be back in my old skin."

"That body doesn't belong to you," they snapped.

The thing, Bloodhound refused to think of it as Elliott, made a slow tutting sound. "C'mon he shouldn't mind sharing for a bit," he said with an exaggerated whine, "we're the same person after all. It's like two peas in a pod."

"You're just another beast from this world," they retaliated while trying to keep their tone as still as possible. "Like the other corrupted beings here, you only care about violence and conquest."

"Jeez tell me how you really feel Houndie."

"You don't get to call me that."

He ignored them as if they were a whining puppy and continued, "but I guess I could see where you're coming from, I'm not so pretty now outside of this body huh? You get hooked up to the freaky totem that guy has enough times and you start looking a bit different. Eventually, you start being different. It's not much of a tit for tat but I guess I can't complain since it's let me get back into my old body."

"That body doesn't belong to you," they growled but couldn't quite keep their breath from hitching.

"Oh, so it belongs to you instead?" He purred. "Were you two just having a fun little sight-seeing trip out here? At the end of the night, you get to go back home but I'm stuck here, how's that fair? There's no living, just survival. I guess you'd understand that better than anyone else."

He had been stuck in this cold world alone. As much as they were disturbed by this world, they were still a hunter, they would have been able to survive alone. But Elliott…

They told them quietly, "leave us alone-"

When he interrupted them, his voice cracked, "I searched everywhere for you after you left."

"I never-"

"I wanted to find to you," he admitted to them quietly, that forced expression gone, replaced by something else. "I thought you were taken or injured but it was my fault, right? I was just dead weight to you so I was easy to leave behind."

Bloodhound focused on those black eyes, there had to be something behind them right?

They took a slow breath and focused on those eyes, "listen to me. He is nothing like you, you have to fight against-"

"Why?" He snapped. "So you can have a chance to betray him? I could keep him safe unlike you did for me!"

"We are _nothing_ like you two."

Bloodhound's eyes looked trailed downwards towards his chest where they noticed that he was puffing in exhaustion. If what he was doing was exhausting him, then they had a chance if they could just stall for time.

He bent his elbows, leaning down to get closer to them. "Just because where your world is a little bit prettier," he warned them, "doesn't mean you're not the same, that you're not just as prepared to leave him like your other self did once it gets rough."

"You're wrong," they snapped, "I would never leave him behind."

"That's exactly what you promised me."

They couldn't help but flinch at that but managed to make out, "I've never done anything to you."

"You're just the same, no matter what world you're in, you'll always make the same choices."

"Mirage's body doesn't belong to you."

He leaned further down to laugh in their face, "wow 'Mirage'? That's pretty cold coming from you."

"Taking out your pain on us will never help you," they told him coldly.

"I'm never going to get what I want," he mumbled, "but this is close enough."

Bloodhound could only stare up at him. It was Elliott, wasn't it? Changed and harmed by this world but it was still him. It was Elliott who they would always laugh at, who would always be the one that would make them smile. If this had happened to their Elliott, would their feelings have ever changed?

They asked him, "and what do you want?"

Those black eyes looked softer for a moment and they were tempted to reach up if not for the restraints around their wrists.

"I want my life back," he said helplessly. "When that creepy fucking robot took over there was nothing to do but run and hide but…This place gets to everyone eventually. Even if that totem ending screwing me up it's hard to hate when it lets me do this."

They swallowed heavily, "this is wrong, you must know that."

"How are you going to lecture me about what's wrong, when all I wanted-" He snapped loud enough that it made them flinch. "All I wanted to know was why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you leave me?"

Bloodhound felt the strain on one of their wrists relax and they lifted a hand but it stilled before they could reach Elliott's face. He stared at them, those consuming black eyes wide as they rested a hand on his chest.

His breath was uneven when he admitted, "I missed you. More than I want to admit. I missed you so fucking much. You were just gone when I woke up that morning and I didn't know what to do without you."

"I-"

"You could stay here with me," he interrupted desperately.

They flinched, "you know that I can't do that."

"You could!" He yelled and they tried to shift again but they knew that he wasn't going to budge. "I'm just the same as him-"

"No," Bloodhound told him while their hand curled around the chain of medallions. "Us - the legends, we're looking for an artefact here that could help us against him-"

His hand snapped back up to grip at their wrist on his chest. "You can't stop him, no one could," he said desperately.

Bloodhound shook their head, "we're going to finish this, no matter where it takes us."

"You sound so convincing," he laughed coldly, "I thought you sounded convincing back then too."

Their eyes tipped up, a small enough gesture to hide but they could see the Cage now out of the corner of their eye. The dropship was in the distance, still far but close enough that they needed to move soon.

He lifted the hand on their chest upwards to cup his face. "Did you tell him he was beautiful too?" He asked softly. "When you lied to him, did you tell him that you wanted to keep him safe because he mattered to you?"

"I will always protect you," Bloodhound promised, not to this man - but to Elliott.

"But you didn't!" He snapped - but even now, he made no move to take their hand away.

They brushed their thumb against his cheekbone and murmured, "listen to me Elliott, we are going to leave here together."

The nails on his other hand dug into their wrist harder, "don't fucking lie to him!"

"I am going to keep you safe," they vowed.

"No, you won't!" He shouted. "He can only trust himself. I'm the only one!"

Their hand on his face drifted down, slowly enough that it was non-threatening for him to allow them to. That hand drifted back down to their mask and their shaking hand began to unbuckle the latches and ties there.

He let out a shuddering breath and when they glimpsed back at his eyes they were certain that for a moment they were not entirely dark. It only took one more swift movement to entirely pull the mask off of their face.

It took all their concentration to force their thoughts away from Elliott's reaction to the sight of their face. Away from the fading scars and deep red braids that framed their face that they knew he would see.

All that and more they pushed away when they called to him, "look at me Elliott, you're stronger than he is."

"Stop it-" He hissed but they shot out their hand to clutch at the red scarf he was wearing and hauled him closer.

"I will never leave you," they promised, looking into those black eyes and what they knew would be further beyond them, "we're going to go back together."

The snarl on Elliott's face dropped for a moment and a full-body shudder overcame him. The other hand on their wrist loosened and they slid their arm out of his grasp as his body continued to shake. He started coughing roughly, a black mist fogging the air around him in short breaths.

Their grip on his scarf loosened, worried that they were making it harder for him to catch his breath and Elliott rolled off of their hips onto his back.

"Elliott!" They called to him but he seemed completely unfocused on them.

He gave another ragged cough and the next time he shook his body, the shadow appeared sprawled on the ground as if he had been snapped back from Elliott's body.

Bloodhound pulled out their gun, aiming at the shadow that had found its feet quickly. The two stared at each other in a standstill before the shadow snapped its head toward the entrance of the cave. There was a flash of light and sound before they saw the shadow being almost dragged back by an unseen force. It was a sight that they had seen before, when a teammate would be called back by Revenant's totem. It was a disturbing thought but one they couldn't dwell on.

They didn't hesitate to clutch Elliott and drag him up by the shoulders. His forehead was soaked in sweat and they brushed the hair sticking to it away as they felt for his temperature. He was breathing, slower than they would have liked but they knew he wouldn't get any better staying out here.

They hauled him over their shoulder and began the trek towards the dropship. They knew that there were not as careful as they should have been, snapping twigs and leaving heavy tracks, but they didn't care about attracting potential prowlers now, they just needed Elliott to be safe.

Before they made it in sight of the dropship, they fixed their mask back onto their face as they came into view where they knew that Bangalore would be watching. They set him down next to them as they relaxed back into their seat on the dropship, they were tempted to shut their eyes and they could scarcely remember a time that they'd been this tired.

But they couldn't rest yet, not before they knew that Elliott was okay.

It was a long time before they felt him move next to them, his head slipped onto their shoulder and he rubbed his face into their gear.

"It's too bright," he grumbled and the whine in his voice was all that they needed for the tension to leave their body.

When he realised who he was leaning on he lifted his head to look at them and they had never been so relieved to see brown eyes.

Those same eyes darted around the interior of the dropship before he asked, "uh, so there's no chance that I dreamt all of that up is there?"

"Ah," they started to say but winced, "no."

He forced a laugh, "so much for a romantic moonlit walk then."

"Mirage-"

"I'm sorry, I really am," he cut them off and then mumbled, "I don't know why I said that."

They were silent for another moment, trying to gather the words that would make this right. That would make him smile and feel safe again.

Bloodhound resisted covering his hand with theirs and murmured, "this wasn't your fault."

"I could see everything," he said, so coldly that it was jarring to hear. "I wanted to do something but I was too weak-"

"Listen to me," they said and lifted a hand to rest it on his shoulder, "this was not your fault, you're not responsible for the actions of other people."

Elliott choked on his inhale, "he wasn't exactly another person was he?"

"He wasn't you," they said firmly, "if you never want to go down there again, you would not have to. You're safe now, you shouldn't have to risk that again."

"We're safe now," he echoed.

They nodded, "we are."

"Okay, okay, cool that's good. Nice."

Wordlessly, they bent down to pick up a bottle of water from under their seat and handed it to him. He didn't hesitate before he downed it, wiping away the excess that didn't get caught in his beard.

Before common sense could stop them, they admitted, "I meant what I said."

"What?"

"I would never leave you," they vowed.

Elliott just stared at them and they felt the sudden need to avert their eyes. "I know," he responded after a long moment, "or I think I know. It's just…I could feel him and he was so afraid and alone."

They nodded solemnly, "I wanted to help him-"

"But sometimes there's nothing you can do right?" He finished.

"Perhaps that's how I will spend my time justifying it," they said bitterly.

He hadn't shrugged their hand off of his shoulder yet and Bloodhound had no idea why. "Maybe we can," he considered, fiddling with his hands. "If the artefact turns out to be useful, maybe we could bring the sun back here."

Maybe then, that version of Elliott would be able to find what he wanted. Maybe under a brighter sun, he would be able to find that other version of Bloodhound and find out the truth of what had happened. There had to be the rest of the legends there too. If they found each other again on better terms…

They let those sweeter thoughts roll through them and they murmured, "I'd like that. Thank you for back there."

He ran a hand through that curly hair of his and said sheepishly, "I didn't do anything."

"You helped me," Bloodhound told him, "you're stronger than you think, you're so…"

They had to stop now. Before they said something foolish. Especially now when Elliott was tired and didn't need them pushing him. 

He lifted a hand to rest over theirs. "Hound," he said softly with that nickname that always made them melt, "I-"

"You don't have to say anything," they said with a shake of their head.

His brow furrowed slightly, "but I want to."

"You're tired and you've had a very difficult night," they told him, giving him a chance to back away. To leave everything well alone.

"I know that you wouldn't leave me behind," he said. "I don't know what happened with those two. Maybe they really did leave or maybe something else happened. I just know that we're not them."

A satisfied smile crossed their lips, "thank you."

That sheepish smile found its way onto his face again after a moment. "Uh, I forgot the other thing I was meant to say - or uh, I guess ask you," he fumbled. "B-But if you ever wanted, we could maybe take another long walk under the moon sometime. Could be nice."

They stared at him but that smile on their face couldn't help but widen.

"But perhaps it would be somewhere more scenic," they added and they couldn't escape the giddiness that seeped into their tone.

"Uh, so is that a yes?"

Their laugh was muffled by their respirator but it did hide how they added slyly, "of course."

Any trace of control of that sly tone was gone the second that he leaned up to kiss the edge of their mouthpiece. Their mouth opened and shut again and again while with a sleepy smile, he slouched into their side and left his head resting on their shoulder. 

They couldn't help but wonder how it would feel without their mask on. How nice the warmth of his lips or his beard would feel when he kissed them.

The spot on their mouthpiece stayed warm even as they stayed blinking with a stupidly sweet smile that they weren't sure would ever leave. Their hands relaxed into their lap and they tucked their legs underneath themselves, basking in the warmth that was coming off Elliott's body.

And that's how the rest of the legends found the two of them, in that same position after the mission when they opened the dropship to check on them. Although, in the time between, Elliott had drooled on Bloodhound's shoulder a bit while they loudly snored on. However, the smile had never seemed to leave either of their faces while they slept.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm pre-emptively breaking my own heart through writing about these quests before the writers at Respawn can do it. Checkmate.
> 
> I was tempted to make this into a multi-chapter but I was happy leaving it as a one-shot. Who knows, maybe in the future I might go back and do a second part. Anyway, thank you for reading, I always love knowing that people take the time to read the stuff I make <3


End file.
